Band of the Day: Phantom State

A new band with a new single for you as we welcome Phantom State as our Band of the Day…

Simple things first – where are you guys from?

We are from the birthplace of heavy metal… Birmingham, UK.

How did you meet?

Myself (Benjamin), David and Jake have known each other since we were kids in high school.

Luke walked into our lives at the perfect moment. I remember being stood outside a Costa Coffee back in June talking Jake on the phone. We were discussing how we had been struggling to find a bassist that had chemistry with us and how it was holding us back from opportunities that were presenting themselves to us. Luke happened to be outside smoking a cigarette and listening to the conversation and expressed interested in jamming with us and well… The rest is history!

How long have you been playing as a band?

David and I have been playing together for roughly 5 years. We’ve gone through various line-up changes and band names. We actually started out with Jake on drums at the very beginning so we’ve essentially gone full-circle to get to where we are now.

Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?

A Phantom State is a society governed by corruption and deceit, which is a subject matter that is very prominent within our music. We kind of flipped the definition on its head and envisioned it through the eyes of a person living in a society like that.

With so much negativity and uncertainty being so widespread in the media, it’s only natural that it creates a sense of unrest in people. It can really drag you down and make you feel hollow, like a Phantom wandering through life.

What are your influences?

Where do we start? There is such a broad range of influences that bleed into our music. There are a lot of modern metal influences from bands like Architects, Periphery, Parkway Drive and King 810 who are all flawless bands. On the flipside of that, there’s also a lot of old-school metal influences from bands like Machine Head, Black Label Society and Meshuggah.

Describe your music. What makes you unique?

Touching loosely on the previous answer, I think the way we intertwine a modern metal sound with old-school elements has helped us create a very raw and distinctive sound. We definitely feel like we’ve crafted something that is unique.

Do you have any particular lyrical themes?

The lyrics for the tracks we have recorded tackle issues such as societal unrest with issues going on in the world right now.

Dealing with internal struggles is something that I wrote about a lot to. It’s an issue we can all relate to because everyone goes through it at some stage in their life. These are issues that are genuinely close to our hearts. It was very cathartic to get it all off my chest and work together as band to manifest it all into songs we are extremely proud of. It’s all very dark very heavy.

We do have one song that has a more positive theme to it! It’s all about embracing the natural beauty the world has to offer us instead of dwelling any negative issues that may be going on around you.

I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to some truly mesmerising places in the world. When you experience different cultures and the natural beauty the world has to offer, it really does change your perspective on things you know?

What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?

At this point we’ve lost count! We used to play under the name Beneath The Remains and during that era of the band we played shows all over the place. We’ve shared the stage with some truly amazing bands.

We haven’t played any shows as Phantom State yet because we’ve been off the radar working extremely hard on our music and working Luke and Jake into the band. Our sound has evolved so significantly from what it was.

Our shows are loud and high-energy for sure. We always strive to make sure we give it everything we’ve got when we hit the stage regardless of whether we’re playing to big or small crowds. The combination of our heavy riffs and energy always seems to spark a reaction from the crowd.

We played a show in York a while back which was still to this day one of the best shows we’ve ever played.

The venue was packed, and the crowd were going absolutely mental and singing along to songs. I’ll never forget there was this one dude that stood right in the middle of all the mosh pits with tall electric blue hair and a beer in his hand. He spent the entire show with a deadpan expression on his face sticking his middle finger up at us. He literally did not move once and didn’t spill a single drop of his beer.

When we got off stage and I went to the bar and he was stood there. I said hello to him and he turns and says to me “I thought you guys were amazing but when you walked on stage to that Turn Down for What song, that pissed me off. That’s why you got my middle finger for the whole show”.

I remember us all laughing so hard at that. What a guy!

What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?

I use a Jim Root signature Fender Telecaster and run it through a Blackstar HT60.

David uses a PRS SE Mark Holocomb signature and runs it through an Orange Dark Terror.

Luke uses a Fender Precision Bass and runs it through an Ashdown RM-500-EVO.

Jake beats the shit out of a Tama Superstar kit. He uses a combination of Sabian and Zildjian cymbals.

We’re all in the process of expanding our gear due to using multiple tunings and stuff.

What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?

We recently dropped our first single “Sands of Time” from our upcoming EP. We’ve received great responses to it so far which is awesome.

Our EP will be dropping very soon, and we cannot wait for people to hear it. All that will be announced in the coming weeks.

We’ve got some shows coming up in January and February that we have been promoting.

What are your plans for 2019?

We’ll be dropping our EP and getting out on the road as much as we can, so we can continue meeting new friends and fans.

One of our dream goals for 2019 would be to get a slot at on the smaller stages at some of our favourite festivals such as Download Festival and Bloodstock Festival.

We’re hoping 2019 will be an amazing year for Phantom State.

From previous Band of the Day, cleopatrick: What is the one thing you wish every venue had?

A free bar. That would be perfect!

We love to have a drink and party before and after our shows with new people, so we would definitely save a ton of money if the booze was free.